Volume Six - Pre-Victorian to the Present Day - Select Aspects - The Penarth Harbour Dock and Railway - Railway World Article - 1964 . . .

In the meantime the Taff Vale had promoted its own scheme for an extension from Penarth Town towards Barry under the "Cardiff Penarth & Barry Junction Railway" Act of 1885. This coastal line ran through Lavernock and Sully to join the Barry Railway at Biglis Junction, north of Cadoxton, and was opened throughout at the same time as the Barry line to Cogan in 1888.

By this time the Barry Railway wanted its own station at Cardiff. The idea was strongly opposed by the Taff Vale and the Great Western Railways, but eventually the three companies came to a working agreement whereby the G.W.R. Riverside goods branch, which ran southward for about a mile from Cardiff station towards the docks area, would be made suitable for passenger traffic for the use of T.V.R. trains to the Penarth line and B.R. trains from Barry. New stations were constructed at Riverside, adjoining Cardiff (G.W.R.), now Cardiff General, and Clarence Road at the terminus of the branch. Barry and Taff passenger trains commenced to use the branch in 1893, while goods traffic continued to be handled by the G.W.R. This arrangement meant that the Taff had to give the Barry running powers from Cogan Junction to Penarth Curve South Junction, Grangetown, and the Barry eventually received running powers from there to Radyr over the Penarth from there to Radyr over the Penarth line and on over the Taff main line to join the Rhymney Railway at Walnut Tree Junction, Taff's Well. The additional traffic meant that the section of the line between Cogan and "South Curve" (as it is known locally) would have to be quadrupled, including the three-span viaduct over the River Ely which carried three tracks. The Barry Railway therefore bore the cost of an additional single span bow-string girder bridge to carry an up fast line alongside the existing bridge and the old wooden platforms at Grangetown were replaced by a new island station between the fast lines, which were on the west side.

The Penarth Railway, which is double track and still much in its original form, commences at Radyr Junction (formerly Penarth Junction) on the Taff Vale mainline, where it connects with all four tracks and branches to the right. In the angle between the two lines are the extensive Radyr marshalling sidings (and the locomotive shed, 88B), where loaded coal trains for the various Docks are made up and stored. The Rhymney Railway also brought mineral trains to Radyr via Walnut Tree Junction.

Travelling southward for 41 chains one comes to Radyr Quarry Junction where the Llandaff Loop (opened 1900) branches left to connect the south end of the sidings with the main line at Llandaff.